Dammed lakes, rivers and streams had bare bottoms, the land was dry and cracked, thousands of hectares of crops withered due to lack of water.
The Central Highlands is entering the peak period of the dry season. Water levels and flows on rivers and streams gradually decrease and remain lower than average for many years. Thousands of farmers drilled wells, dug ponds, blocked streams, and dug into lake beds to get water to save crops.
In Gia Lai, Bau Nai Lake, which is more than 12 hectares large in Bau Can commune, Chu Prong district, is running out of water. Standing looking at the dry scene at the bottom of the lake, Mr. Tran Van Ky, 48 years old, seemed worried about his 4,000 withering coffee trees about 500 meters away.
Mr. Ky said the lake has been dry for about a month now, people have had to dig trenches and hire excavators to dig deep holes to get water. His family alone spent more than 30 million VND to rent an excavator. After watering 3 times, the water was not enough, so he continued to spend money to buy a pipeline to pump water to another lake two kilometers away to save the tree.
According to Mr. Ky, in the dry season of 2016, Bau Nai Lake also dried up, but not as fiercely as this year. Every year, people pump water mainly to irrigate coffee and tea, but now the irrigation water source also serves sweet potatoes, so the water source is depleted.
Due to lack of water, two acres of rice (2,000 m2) of Mr. Ksor Phung’s family, in Ia Dêr commune, Ia Grai district, were dry, burned and stunted. Unfortunately, Mr. Phung hired someone to harvest a week early. “Every year we harvest about 18 bags of rice, each bag is 60 kg, but this year there is a lack of water, so maybe a few bags,” Mr. Phung said.
Trees and fields in Ayun commune, Chu Se district are dry and barren.
The clean water tank is dry, people in Ayun commune, Chu Se district have to go to the water hole next to the Ayun river to get water for daily use twice a day (morning and afternoon).
The 15 m deep well of the family of Mr. Rlan Huynh, 45 years old, Kong HToc commune, Chu Se district has been dry for the past month. “We couldn’t keep asking neighbors for water, so our family hired someone to dig 5 meters deeper,” Mr. Huynh said.
In Kon Tum province, C3 reservoir, Ha Mon commune, Dak Ha district has an area of 2 km2, capacity of 370,000 m3, serving irrigation for more than 200 hectares of crops in Binh Minh village, leaving only a small puddle. , upstream the land is cracked and dry.
C3 reservoir water is turbid, contaminated with alum, easily causing plant leaf burns, but many households are forced to use this water source to irrigate coffee gardens hundreds of meters away.
According to Kon Tum Provincial Irrigation Department, the locality has 80 irrigation reservoirs. Due to the peak of the dry season, hot weather occurs on a large scale, water levels in reservoirs and irrigation works are falling, reaching about 60% of design capacity.
Po Co River, the section bordering Kon Tum City with Sa Thay district, is dry.
Kon Tum Provincial Hydrometeorological Station warns that in April and May, Kon Tum city and the districts of Sa Thay, Ia H’Drai, Dak Ha, Dak To, Ngoc Hoi, Kon Ray, Dak Glei are at high risk of deficiency. water on a large scale.
Dak Bla River, the section flowing through Kon Ray district and Kon Tum city, has a 40-65% lower water flow and 0.2-1.2 m lower water level than previous years.
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Lake 40, Dak Lao commune, Dak Mil district, Dak Nong province is bare bottom. To have drought-resistant water for coffee, people rent a machine to discharge from Doi 1 lake into lake 40, then pump it to the fields. Each hour rental is 120,000 VND.
Dak Lao commune has about 5,400 hectares of coffee and pepper. The locality has 7 large dam lakes providing water for crops, of which only Lake Team 1 still has water. In Dak Nong province, about 8,600 hectares of crops are at risk of water shortage.
According to the Central Highlands Regional Hydrometeorological Station, due to the influence of El Nino, the temperature in this year’s dry season is higher than the average for many years. At the same time, the dry season will last longer due to the late arrival of the rainy season.
Mr. Nguyen Van Huan, Head of Forecasting Department, said that by the end of April, the area is likely to suffer more intense heat waves and more intense droughts. This unit recommends that authorities in the Central Highlands provinces need to plan to use water sources strictly, irrigate economically and reserve enough water for production until the rainy season.
According to Mr. Huan, it is forecast that this year’s rainy season in the Central Highlands will arrive about 15-20 days late in some places compared to previous years. Even during the rainy season, there is still a possibility of water shortage due to intermittent rain, so drought can still occur.
According to VnExpress.net
